The Plight- Malfoy x Reader

A Word to the Wise

I sat at the bar in the Leaky Cauldron, shuffling between emotions of shame and anger.

I was always putting my foot in my mouth at the most inopportune times.

Though, what did they expect? For me to roll over like a dog and take whatever they dished out?

I couldn't be quiet. It overflowed me. And I shouldn't have to be.

Especially when Otto reminded me of another life...

A life where no one wanted me around.

I was too distracted by my thoughts, starring into my water cup, that I'd barley registered someone else pull out the empty barstool next to me to sit.

I heard a throat clear.

I did a double take, to see Severus Snape sitting next to me.

"Someone said there was a sulking girl loitering about in the Leaky Cauldron."

"Who said that?" I asked.

"Me," he said tilting his head.

I huffed, throwing him a fast fading smile.

Some steam from the kitchen was swirling around above us and Snape looked up at it with displeasure.

"This place is rather stuffy. Why don't we get some air?"

I gave him a skeptical look.

"I don't want to go back to the manor right now," I replied, assuming that was his end game.

"Not what I was suggesting," he countered.

He looked considered me another moment.

"Let's go for.... ice cream?" He said slightly uncomfortable.

He gauged my reaction, then took another guess as my brows furrowed in question, "Or what...? A milkshake?"

He sighed, revealing the motive of his guessing game, "Whatever sugar coma inducing dessert you children flock to these days."

I laughed a little, genuinely this time.

There was a ghost of a smile as he stood from the barstool, holding his hand out to help me off my own.
—

We sat at a metal bistro table outside of an ice cream shop.

Snape looked disgusted by the state of the table's surface—waving his wand so that the sticky ice cream drips, which I suspected was an accumulation from multiple children throughout the day, disappeared.

The table glistened.

He did the same with our chairs—though I felt it was overkill because the seats looked fine.

We sat in silence as I picked at the chocolate ice cream with the small spoon.

I looked up at him—he had gotten a small mint chocolate chip ice cream in a cup and had all but finished it.

He seemed the type to never go out in the sun. Even now he didn't seem to enjoy it, having opted for the side of the table with shade.

"Did Lucius send you after me?" I asked.

"I was...in the area," he said carefully, "And perhaps I got a message to keep an eye out... it was a...coincidence I bumped into you when I did."

Sure.

I looked at the people passing. It was slightly busy—people rushed in and out of stores.

A worker at the plant store across the street was perking up a vine-like plant with her gloved finger. The plant responded by unfurling itself and spreading itself out. The woman cooed at it and sprayed the vines with some sort of concoction.

A child stopped to point it out to his mom.

I wonder if it would still be busy in the winter.

"So... what happened?" Snape inquired, snapping me from my thoughts.

I looked down at my ice cream. It had half melted and would certainly become fully liquid soon.

I swirled my spoon in it as I said, "I ruined dinner is all."

I looked up the to him and he had lifted a brow.

I clarified, "—though I'm not fully to blame."

"Hm. Shall I fashion a guess to identity of the other party at fault?" Snape pondered.

I didn't give him the chance.

I knew he already had the correct answer.

"Otto is just..." I began as I shook my head and sat back, crossing my arms to add, "awful."

"He's..." Snape trailed off, trying to think of the word.

"Complicated, I remember," I finished his sentence. That's how he'd described him at the train station.

"He's had a...difficult life."

"Haven't we all?" I said with undertones of  sarcasm.

He smiled a bit.

I held my arms a little tighter.

"Having a hard life is not an excuse to treat others with cruelty," I said softly.

"I do agree with you. But understanding doesn't equate to excusing a person's behavior. And it's not on his behalf—not for his peace of mind—that you do. It's for yours."

I looked away from him.

"It's not your fault," he added and I looked up to him, "Your parents...Otto— how others treat you is a reflection of themselves. Not of you."

Something twinged in my chest.

My parents.

I didn't know them at all, did I?

Or maybe they'd showed me exactly who they were.

Two people who cared only for themselves and one another.

And the rest of us be damned.

I considered Snape for a moment.

"I— would you tell me who my parents killed?"

He looked momentarily taken aback.

"I—" he starred at me as if wondering what to say next.

"Don't you think I should know?" I inquired.

"It's not my place to tell you. It's..." he trailed off.

"Complicated, right?" I said looking away from him with slight bitterness.

Maybe... maybe I should just look for answers on my own.

"Bad idea," Snape said.

My eyes flickered to his and I put up my shields.

"What would you have me do instead?" I asked.

"Enjoy your youth," he replied.

"Remain oblivious you mean?"

"That would be wisest," he said with slight humor, adding, "you know, curiosity killed the cat."

I frowned, "But satisfaction brought it back."

His smile reached his eyes as he shook his head.

"You are loads of trouble. Now I can see why Lucius seems to have acquired a permanent worry line," he said continuing to smile to himself.

Then he waved his hand, as both our ice cream cups disappeared.

He stood up and nudged his head down the road.

"We should get going. There's someone waiting for you."